April showers bring May flowers. That’s the popular saying. Only this year there weren’t very many April showers, and really no amount of snowfall in the nearby mountains.

Route 1 runs for 50 miles along the ridge of the South Fork mountains, at an elevation of 4-5 thousand feet. Some years I haven’t been able to get through even in July due to the lingering snow. This year, I was able to make the full length ride in early May, without a single trace of snow on the ground. In fact, much of the grass was already drying out.

Being able to get up there that early in the year, I was expecting I might see different wildflowers than my normal rides later in the year. This display of lupines on the hillside caught my attention. When I passed my favorite wildflower patch I saw that they were still just getting started, but unfortunately it looked like someone grazed their cattle through that area so I’m not sure it’s going to be a good display there this year.